


talk talk

by Nyxierose



Series: complications [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 14:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5544242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxierose/pseuds/Nyxierose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is a universally acknowledged fact that rumors suck. Especially when they're completely untrue (for now).</p>
            </blockquote>





	talk talk

It takes less than a week for the rumors to start and just as long for Poe to question exactly why he likes people so much.

Not that it's his fault, exactly. Or _hers_ , definitely not, she'll probably come out of this just as shiny as always and besides she's a complete innocent. (Well, maybe not _complete_ , but a few little kisses aren't enough to corrupt anyone as far as he's aware.) It's just a misunderstanding, but unfortunately it's the kind that comes with evidence and… dammit, he didn't know this level of damage control could even be _necessary_.

Okay, fine, they're technically sleeping together in the innocent way. Rey's got some weird stuff in her mind that makes her afraid to be alone at night, and he's got a variant of the same and a bigger mattress. The fact that he's kinda falling for her has almost nothing to do with the fact that she's all but moved in of her own free will and without a lot of warning, and he'd be completely fine with their weird roommate arrangement staying that way. And okay, fine, he _is_ falling for her and he _does_ want to sleep with her in the not-innocent way, but the plan was to let her initiate that in a few weeks or months or whenever she's ready.

As of now, however, the plan doesn't matter because apparently the entire base has pieced together a different version of events. A version that, while hot and just vaguely plausible, has nothing to do with reality.

He can't help but think that if literally anyone else were involved, nobody would care. Sexual ethics are a little different with the occasional threat of imminent death over their heads, and he's been a marked man since he learned to fly. It's only gotten worse as he's climbed the ranks, to the point where it's almost _expected_ that he sleep around because it's not like he's got anything to lose. It's the natural order of things, and he's enjoyed it enough but now… now things are different.

And of course he couldn't get tangled up with someone low-level. Course not. No, his heart flutters for the first time he can remember and of course it's the girl who's going to save the galaxy whether she likes it or not and sometimes he can't help but think he's one of the only people - _the_ only person, for the time being - who actually _sees_ her. Not the prodigy, not the would-be warrior, but the confused and damaged person underneath. That's the part he loves, because that part of her soul is all too familiar. That's the part he wants to protect, now more than ever.

The stories vary, but the common basis is this - a wisp of a girl has been seen wandering around a certain area at weird hours, her few material possessions are slowly migrating away from wherever she's _supposed_ to be sleeping, and an unusual duo has been seen together in all sorts of places. True enough, all of that. From there, though, there are a few common variations:

a. "how old _is_ she anyways?!" (Answer - twenty. Decade younger than him, yes, but she's of age and she's initiated everything and that's problem fucking eliminated as far as he's concerned.)

b. "aren't Jedi supposed to be celibate?" (Answer - humans don't tend to follow rules very well, and that one in particular has a history of getting bent. At least this incident doesn't involve someone who ought to be off limits.)

c. "they're moving awfully fast, aren't they?" (Answer - wartime leads to impulsive romantic behavior, and yes they're moving a _little_ fast on the logistical end of things but they're compensating in other ways. Boy are they ever compensating.)

So, it's not anywhere near what it apparently looks like, but people like to talk and Poe would rather not have his questionably existent sex life be one of the primary gossip topics on the base. Not for this particular reason, at least!!

On the bright side, if there _is_ a bright side, Rey doesn't seem to know - or if she does, she doesn't say anything. She carries on with whatever her life currently is, spends every waking moment either training or waiting around in Medical (he thinks offhandedly that she might be the first person those droids actually _like_ ) and doesn't talk much when she wanders back to their sleepspace. _Theirs_. Sounds natural despite the total lack of intent, or maybe because of it. _Their_ space, beginnings of a life and oh let him hope and-

"People are talking about us," she says one night when they're curled up together, and the bubble shatters.

"About what?" he shrugs, because there's still a chance she's innocent about-

"Version I heard, saying I must be a good fuck or you never would've settled for me."

 _Shit_. That's a new one.

His first response is to ask her exactly which moron decided that was a good thing to say directly to her face because he's going to _end_ them, but he bites his tongue at the last second because there's about a fifty percent chance he works directly with that person and the hangars are enough of a zoo without a civil war breaking out. Instead, he goes with: "Absolutely not true."

She nods, almost smiles, but she's still clearly shaken by it. "I'm not sure why it matters to them. There are so many more interesting things about me than who I lie with and-"

"Not a lot happens around here during a normal week. We're in rebuilding mode right now, which means everyone is bored and boredom around here tends to breed idiots. Add to that the colorful reputation I apparently have, and…"

"I'm not blaming you. I just think it's funny."

" _What_?!"

"We're not like that. Not like everyone thinks we are."

"And we don't ever have to be if you don't-"

She cuts him off with a kiss, straddling him. "Maybe we should be."

He feels heat rush through his body but his brain's still working and he has to stop this before it starts. "There are good reasons to have sex with someone, Rey, and… this isn't one of them."

"What if it's because I want to? Only real reason there is, right?" She kisses him again and this time he arches up to meet her, this time he accepts where it's going. "I'm aware of how these things should work. I don't owe you - or anyone else - my body. I _want_ to be like that with you."

If nothing else, she's determined and he's fallen for less.

It's not quite the first time she deserves - she doesn't actually _say_ he's her first, but she doesn't really need to either, he figures it out from the way her hands shake and how often her skin turns a pleasant shade of pink. She's inexperienced but she's not _clueless_ , and she knows exactly what she wants done to her and damn if that doesn't make everything more appealing. He tries as best he can, but he's pretty sure the idea of foreplay is lost on her and it's not long before he's above her and wondering for the first time if this is a mistake.

"You're absolutely sure?" he asks, searching her face for any sign she might not be.

"I want you in me," she replies, and she doesn't need to say any more than that.

In the aftermath, she rests her head on his chest and makes cute little purring noises and it's so easy to accept that this is his life now. This is what he wants, this is what he's building towards, and maybe there could be a future with this girl. In peacetime, ten years down the line, a little house outside a quiet town on a backwater planet and a few kids and maybe some strange local pet. Poe may be an idealist, but he exists in moments and isn't used to having plans for a week from now, let alone the rest of a life he suddenly wants to be long and good. It could be beautiful, maybe.

It's useless to think like that, though, so he focuses on the moment at hand. There is quiet now, in this room at the end of an isolated hallway, quiet as she falls asleep and he makes sure the blankets are centered on her before he follows. Quiet is a beginning. Quiet, after the week he's had, feels a lot like hope.


End file.
